It was eight o'clock p.m. in Equestria. Everypony was getting ready for bed. At this time, Rarity would usually put her younger sister Sweetie Belle to bed. However, tonight wasn't the case. Rarity was having a nervous breakdown in the sewing room of the Carousel Boutique because she just didn't have enough red cashmere cloth to finish one of her newest dresses. She was all spread out on her couch where she would usually have these nervous breakdowns:
"Oh, why?!"
Sweetie Belle walked into the sewing room. "Stop being such a big foal! I'm trying to put myself to sleep tonight because a certain big sister is too busy having a nervous breakdown!"
"Go away, Sweetie!" Rarity howled. "The least you could do to help me is to buy me some more cashmere cloth!"
"I'm a filly!" Sweetie Belle shot back. "Who in the entire wide world of Equestria would expect a filly like me to buy cloth somewhere? Nopony! Besides, everypony's probably closing up shop anyway! Now excuse me as I try to get some sleep!"
As Sweetie Belle started out of the sewing room, Rarity got up out of her couch and galloped quickly next to Sweetie Belle.
"Then Sweetie, I'll have no choice but to break out the strawberry ice cream!"
"Fine!" replied Sweetie Belle. "If this is what it takes to get me some sleep, I'll go get you your dumb ice cream!"
She galloped away from the entrance of the sewing room and into the kitchen. A minute later, a cross Sweetie Belle arrived back in the sewing room with two full cartons of strawberry ice cream and a large spoon.
"There's your stupid ice cream!"
Sweetie Belle left the room and started up the stairs. Rarity went back onto her couch. Still crying, she levitated off the lid of one of the cartons of strawberry ice cream. Levitating both the large spoon and ice cream, she put the spoon into the ice cream carton. She used her magic to lift the spoon into her mouth. As soon as Rarity swallowed the ice cream, she immediately felt at peace and comfort. She even smiled a little in the midst of the chaos.
It's just cloth, she thought. You could get some tomorrow at the cloth-
Rarity started to cry even more. She had to get this dress done so she could look wonderful, even when there was no special occasion to wear it. She once more levitated the spoon into the ice cream and into her mouth.
"Whyyyyyyyyy?!"
It was eight thirty p.m. Rarity was still eating her ice cream. Little did she know it, she was about to finish up eating her second carton of ice cream. When she levitated the spoon into the ice cream carton, she looked down and saw that to her horror...
There was no more ice cream.
"Sweetie!" she shouted. "Could you get me some more strawberry ice cream?"
Instantly Sweetie Belle was seen walking down the stairs growling angrily. She walked into the sewing room.
"What could you possibly want now?! I only got about thirty minutes of sleep!"
"I want you to be a dear and," Rarity sniffled as tears were rolling down her cheeks, "get me some more strawberry ice cream to help me calm down."
"Are you kidding me?!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "I woke up and came downstairs just to get you some more ice cream?! Well, there better be some or I'm going back to bed!"
She stormed off to the kitchen. However, she came back into the sewing room slightly earlier than she usually would when bringing Rarity some ice cream.
"Hey, whaddya know..." Sweetie Belle told Rarity. "THERE WAS NO ICE CREAM!"
Rarity jumped back in surprise. "Sweetie Belle, this can't be! There must be more here somewhere! Did you check everywhere in the Carousel Boutique?"
"Nope," she replied, "just the kitchen. Y'know, where it should be!"
"But," Rarity began, "if Rarity doesn't have her ice cream, there won't be a happy Rarity..."
"W-what's going on?" asked a suddenly frightened Sweetie Belle.
"Or a sane one..."
Rarity crawled out of her couch and sat on the ground. Her eyes were bloodshot for both crying for so long and staying up so late for doing so.
"I-I'm going back to bed..." a nervous Sweetie Belle stuttered.
"Y-yeah," began Rarity, "you just go back to bed while Rarity can search for her ice cream."
Scared and nervous, Sweetie Belle quickly galloped up the stairs. Rarity just sat on the ground staring outside.
"It might be a good idea to start looking for more ice cream, Rarity..."
Within a split second, Rarity was out the door. Sweetie Belle pulled back the curtains from inside her room to see Rarity running and screaming.
"S-she's gone c-crazy!" she stuttered.
Sweetie Belle trotted back to her bed and laid upright on the sheets. What would everypony think of me and Rarity?! she wondered.
Meanwhile, Rarity was trotting helter-skelter everywhere, freaking out Ponyville civilians.
"Aren't you supposed to get to bed?" a scared Junebug asked Rarity.
"Rarity doesn't need sleep tonight," an insane Rarity replied. "She just needs to eat some ice cream until Princess Celestia raises the sun!"
She laughed loudly and crazily as a frightened Junebug ran away.
"Y-you're crazy!"
Suddenly, Rarity stopped laughing. She sauntered on the road up to Junebug.
"Rarity's not crazy. It's the one simple fact that everypony's crazy except for her. They won't give her any ice cream!"
Junebug galloped away screaming. "Close your windows! Bar your doors! Everypony, there's a psycho pony on the loose who deserves to go to a mental hospital!"
Following those orders, everypony immediately closed their windows and barred their doors. A crazy Rarity walked up to one of the houses and knocked loudly on the door.
"Go away, you loon!" a masculine-sounding voice shouted from inside the house.
"But Rarity needs her ice cream! Strawberry ice cream, to be exact!"
"We only have chocolate! Now go away before you frighten us all!"
Rarity immediately galloped away from the house. Suddenly, Nurse Redheart walked up to her.
"Hello, Rarity."
She stopped in her tracks. "B-but Rarity doesn't need-"
"You clearly need help, Rarity," informed Nurse Redheart. "Follow me to the hospital where my staff and I will keep you in a room for the rest of the night. If you do well, we'll set you free tomorrow. If not, we'll have to move you to a mental hospital and keep you inside a room wearing a straitjacket for four years with no outside contact."
"But Rarity needs no help!" she screamed at Nurse Redheart. "The only help she needs is to get more strawberry ice cream!"
"I'm sorry, but the hospital doesn't stock any ice cream."
"No, please!" insisted Rarity. "Rarity doesn't need any help! Go away, please! GO AWAY!"
Rarity bolted away from Nurse Redheart and began to run away to a place where she could hide from the latter nurse. She hid behind a bush.
"Phew. Rarity should be safe behind this bush."
Sadly for Rarity, it was too late. Nurse Redheart found her behind the bush and began to drag her tail.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! Please! Leave her be! She doesn't need any help! She only wants some more sweet and delectable strawberry ice cream!"
She broke free from Nurse Redheart's grip and quickly started to gallop away from her. Nurse Redheart started to gallop to the Ponyville Hospital so she could get something to get Rarity there once and for all. After all, it was getting late. If she didn't do anything about Rarity, she very well could've gone back to the Carousel Boutique and freak out her family.
Finally, after about ten minutes of galloping, Nurse Redheart started to chase after Rarity again. Only this time, she had a blow dart in her hoof.
Rarity stopped in her hoofsteps. Nurse Redheart also stopped, facing her only about thirty hoofsteps away.
"I'm sorry I have to do this to you Rarity, but you made me..."
She loaded a tranquilizer dart into her blow dart cylinder and blew it out. It immediately struck Rarity in her hoof and knocked her out.
"Leave...Rarity...alone..."
She fainted on the ground.
Rarity's vision was hazy as she slowly woke up. She was inside a large room with only a small window off to the side on one of the walls next to the door. Nurse Redheart walked in.
"Hello, Rarity. You are to stay in this room until next morning. I will carefully monitor you from outside this room so I could decide whether to let you go tomorrow or not."
"Let her go!" Rarity screamed. "Please! She doesn't deserve this! All she really deserves is some delicious strawberry ice cream!"
Nurse Redheart closed the door. "She's definitely not ready to go tomorrow..."
Inside the room, Rarity found herself pacing back and forth. In an attempt to break out of the room, she galloped quickly into one of the walls. She bounced off of it like a bouncy ball. The walls were made out of mattresses. Rarity looked on in horror. This is what her life would be like for four years if she were to continue being crazy for the rest of the night.
"D-don't think about it, Rarity," she stuttered to herself. "Somepony will rescue her someday if she just hopes enough."
Rarity sat on the ground and stroked her tail. Her hair and tail were both very matted and tangled. Her blue eyes were even more bloodshot than before. Her previously neatly-applied light blue eyeliner was now smeared across her face. She closed her eyes and began to weep slowly and loudly.
"Now Rarity needs to finish her dress and get more strawberry ice cream!"
Thirty minutes later, that crying turned into screaming. She began to knock hardly on the walls, which did her no good. Nurse Redheart was still secretly observing her from outside the room with a scared expression on her face.
"PLEASE! LET HER GO NOW! LET HER RETURN HOME SAFE AND SOUND WITH HER FAMILY! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS!"
She wept loudly in between her screams and pleads for help.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..."
"...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
A scared Spike woke up out of his bed in the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom. It was morning, and the sun was shining through the window. Twilight Sparkle immediately woke up.
"Same nightmare, Spike?"
"Uh huh," he replied. "I just don't get it. Why do I keep dreaming about Rarity running out of strawberry ice cream?"
"I'm not sure," replied Twilight Sparkle to Spike. "Hopefully tonight you'll be dreaming about something else or not have any dreams at all! I hope that you'll eventually stop having nightmares about this. Now let's go downstairs to greet everypony else for breakfast."
Twilight Sparkle and Spike both immediately exited the bedroom and went downstairs only to find Rarity digging in the fridge for ice cream.
"For pete's sake Rarity," Applejack began, "buy some more today!"
Fluttershy immediately ran up to Twilight Sparkle. "T-Twilight, Rarity really needs your help!"
Spike looked on in horror as Twilight Sparkle casually walked up to Rarity.
"Rarity," she asked her, "may I help you?"
"No thanks," Rarity replied. "I'll be fine. Just a little nervous about the fact that there's no strawberry ice cream in here..."
"Oh no!" Spike shouted. "My nightmare is coming true!"
Twilight Sparkle walked up to Spike. "Silly Spike! Your nightmare can't possibly come true!"
There were thirty seconds of silence.
"Or will it?"
